From: Elizaphanian (elizaphanian@tiscali.co.uk)
Date: Tue May 06 2003 - 14:50:30 BST
Hi Scott,
: Well, yes, sort of. In original participation, one participated with (what
: we now call) physical objects. "Pneuma" meant both breath and spirit
: because breath was perceived as spirit, not because the word for breath was
: used metaphorically for spirit. But, since one didn't have a strong ego, one
: was also somewhat at their mercy (and at the mercy of what we would now call
: mental objects). So for humanity to advance it was necessary to lose that
: participation (lose it to consciousness -- it is still there in the
: unconscious figuration, or we wouldn't be able to perceive them at all) in
: order to become detached from them. This, as I interpret it, is what the
: intellectual level is all about. And why it is incomplete, since we are,
: alas, still all to attached to things. And this is why I interpret
: meditation as *strengthening the intellect*. Not in the sense of making us
: better at manipulating symbols, but as making us ever more detached
: observers, so even our normal thoughts and feelings become objects. Once
: this is done, we are ready to restore participation (or participation is
: restored to us -- mystical awakening, transcending the S/O divide), but now
: as free beings. New Age stuff (a lot of it, anyway) just wants to restore
: original participation.
That all sounds good to me. Seems at first sight quite compatible with my 'eudaimonic' moq argument,
ie that autonomy is a function of detachment. Fair?
Sam
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